Past practices for cutting firewood were not an easy task. Chains on chainsaws have to be regularly sharpened. It is substantially impossible to cut exact lengths of wood with a chainsaw, resulting in a pile of wood in different lengths which cannot be piled properly leaving doubt as to a consumer purchasing chainsaw-cut firewood as to whether they are receiving fair deal for the actual volume of wood being obtained.
Conventionally delivery of firewood to a consumer is labour intensive, requiring loading of the wood onto a delivery vehicle and subsequent unloading upon arrival at the destination specified by the consumer. When the wood is delivered, it may be left on the ground in full exposure to the weather, allowing it to get wet under rainfall or snow cover and leaving it to stay that way, resulting in a poor burn when finally consumed. The end result can be smoke in the house, creosote in the chimney causing chimney fires, and a mess on the ground to clean up. On top of all that, the repeated handling of the wood so many times makes the process costly for the customer and also inconvenient, as the customer doesn't need the mess and the work associated with a pile of wood.
There are fireplaces on the market that are efficient and cost effective in operation. With a supply of wood available at a fair price, without all the hassles of work and mess involved, people may start using their fireplaces more often. This would open up a market for a firewood product available in great quantities.
A mechanical machine employing hydraulic knives is already known for cutting and splitting wood to proper lengths, making the piling process fast, efficient and precise. Accordingly, an accurate 4 ft×4 ft×8 ft of wood can be produced without doubt as to its fair value.
The present invention provides firewood distribution equipment and methods to address at least some of the shortcomings of the prior art. These solutions provide labour-efficient distribution that contributes to accuracy in the delivered amount of firewood, especially when used with the aforementioned cutting and splitting machinery, to ensure consumer confidence in the purchase price, and provide convenient, dry and clean wood storage solutions for the consumer.